Oil spill in the sea shut down the seawater desalination facility in Ashkelon

An unusual incident of an oil spill in the sea shut down the seawater desalination facility in Ashkelon: According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, early in the morning he received a warning about a malfunction in the sea connection of the Eurasian oil pipeline in Ashkelon, with suspicion of oil pollution.
"The staff of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, led by Rani Amir, director of the National Unit for the Protection of the Marine Environment, arrived at the scene and set out with the crews of the Asia-Europe oil pipeline to the broken sea link, about 3 km from the coast. "A local leak of light crude oil was discovered in an estimated amount of several cubic meters, which occurred due to a malfunction in the emergency disconnection device in the pipeline," they say. Or jet fuel.
According to the ministry, the EPA team sealed the pipe and began treating the effluent by spraying a substance intended for dispersing and discharging the oil in the sea, but until the incident ended "in consultation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Health instructed the desalination facility in Ashkelon to disable the facility." The facility will return to work in accordance with developments in the field. "
The desalination plant in Ashkelon is one of the four private desalination plants operating in Israel. According to data from the Water Authority, the construction of the facility began in 2003 and the water supply began in August 2005. The facility's production capacity is 115 million cubic meters per year, when it originally supplied about 100 million cubic meters and over the years its output has increased. Until recently the facility was owned by IDE but it was sold this month to Varidis and the Keystone Foundation.
A "EPA" spokesman said in response that the company is the energy gateway of the State of Israel and its activity is essential to the energy economy in Israel. As part of its ongoing operational activities, a very small amount of fuel leaked into the sea in the early morning hours, more than 3 km from the Ashkelon coast. According to the practice, the leak was stopped immediately, the company's emergency crews were activated, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, equipped with special means that include a substance that neutralizes the leaked material and returns the situation to its original state. The event is contained and controlled and is in the final stages. The company is investigating the incident. The company is committed to protecting the environment and is prepared for the best possible treatment of any unusual event, as happened this morning. "
It should be noted that EPA recently signed a memorandum of understanding for the flow of oil from the Emirates to Europe via Israel. The infrastructure available to the company in Ashkelon may be used for the new activity. Maya Yaakovs, CEO, You could say hello to the Red Sea corals. The event came as a reminder that the country is promoting a destructive plan for the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, which is expected to turn half the country into an oil pipeline, while unprepared to deal with spillover events and blatantly ignoring the fact that times have changed. It is forbidden to approve the EPA's plan that will create a lot of tanker traffic in oil in Eilat and Ashkelon.